Manulife Financial Corp. reported $1.8 billion in core earnings for the third quarter of 2024, up 4% on a constant exchange rate basis compared to Q3 2023. Earnings per share were $1, almost double this time last year, when earnings came in at 52 cents per share.
Net income attributed to shareholders hit $1.8 billion, a rise of $0.8 billion from Q3 2023. The insurer’s year-to-date net income was $3.7 billion, compared to $3.4 billion this time one year ago.
The increase was mainly due to strong public equity returns, net realized gains from debt instrument sales and core earnings growth. Alternative long-duration assets — mostly in real estate — served as a drag on results.
This comes in the wake of Manulife cutting 2.5% of its global wealth and asset management staff last month.
The division reported net inflows of $5.2 billion, compared to net outflows of $0.8 billion at the same point last year.
The insurance giant’s Canadian core earnings came in at $412 million, up from $408 million in Q3 2023, mainly driven by growth in group insurance that more than offset the higher number of claims in the quarter.
Annualized premium equivalent sales in Canada were $343 million for the quarter, down 20% compared to the same period last year.
The insurer announced dividends of 40 cents per common share, which has been the same since the fourth quarter of 2023.